Violin

The violin is a stringed musical instrument comprising four strings tuned a fifth apart. It is the smallest and highest-tuned member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola, cello and double bass. The lowest string (and hence the lowest note) is the G just below middle C, then in ascending order D, A and E.

Sheet music for a violin almost always uses the G clef (treble clef).

The violin has some similarities to the earlier viol family of instruments.

A person who plays violin is called a violinist.

The parts of the violin

The violin is a carefully made hollow wooden box, with a neck protruding from the top, and a internal sound post connecting the front (belly) and the back. The sides of the violin, curiously, are called ribs. The belly is reinforced by an internal bass bar, which runs vertically through the instrument underneath the lowest string.

The four strings run from a tailpiece attached to the base of the violin, across an intricately carved wooden bridge, then upward just above the fingerboard. At the top end of the fingerboard, the strings cross the nut, a very small second bridge, mounted just slightly above the fingerboard. They then enter the pegbox, where they are wound around their tuning pegs, which are mounted sideways through tightly fitting holes in the pegbox. The tip of the pegbox is ornamented with a carved wooden scroll.

The bridge of a violin has two purposes. First, it holds the strings in an arched configuration, permitting each to be touched separately by the bow. The bridge also transmits the sound vibrations of the strings to the belly, from which they are transmitted to the back by the sound post.

Materials of the violin

Generally the belly, the sound post, and the bass bar are made of spruce, a light but strong softwood. The back, ribs, neck, pegbox, scroll, and bridge are of maple, a hardwood. The choice of woods is basically the same as in the piano, where a hardwood bridge is attached to a spruce soundboard, mounted on a hardwood frame.

The fingerboard of a violin is of ebony. Some old violins have ivory fingerboards.

Strings were orginally made of gut. Such strings are still often used in historically accurate performances of music from the 18th century and earlier. However, they have a tendency to go out of tune and snap more easily than modern strings, which are made from metal. Synthetic cored strings (wound with metal) are also employed today; they combine some of the benefits of gut strings with greater longevity and tuning stability. Often, the top E string for a modern viollin is made of steel.

The hair of the bow is traditionally horse hair, although many cheaper bows use synthetic material. The hair must be frequently rubbed with rosin in order to grip the strings and cause them to vibrate.

Playing the violin

The violin is played by using the right hand to draw the bow at right angles across one of the strings, near the bridge, causing the string to vibrate. Pitch is controlled by selecting the string that the bow contacts (by altering the vertical angle of the bow), and by regulating the sounding length of that string by pressing it down onto the fingerboard with one of the fingers of the left hand.

Fingering and positions

The placement of the fingers on the strings invokes no physical aid like frets; the player must achieve the correct position from skill alone, or else the instrument will sound out of tune. Violin players practice long hours partly to train their fingers to land in the right places, and partly to cultivate the ability to correct the pitch very rapidly as it is played.

The fingers are conventionally numbered "first" (index) through "fourth" (little finger). The digits 1-4 sometimes appear over the notes in violin music, especially in instructional editions, to indicate the finger to be used.

For the beginning player, the highest note available on a violin is made by pressing the fourth finger down on the E-string, sounding a B. However this is only the highest note in so-called first position, which is taught to beginners first. A higher note can be achieved by sliding the hand up the neck of the violin (towards the player's face) and pressing the fingers down at this new position. Thus, for example, in first position, the first finger placed on the E string gives an F#. Pressing the first finger instead on a G is called second position. Third position is achieved when the first finger presses down on an A, and so on. The upper limit of the violin's range is largely determined by the skill of the player. A good player can easily play more than two octaves on a single string, and four octaves on the instrument as a whole.

Violinists often change positions on the lower strings even though this seems unnecessary. Often, this is done to handle a musical passage which would otherwise require fast switching of strings. It is also done to produce a particular timbre: a violin note will sound different depending on what string is used to play it.

Open strings

A special timbre results from playing a note without touching its string with a finger, thus sounding the lowest note on that string. Such a note is said to played on an open string. Open string notes (G, D, A, E) have a very distinct sound resulting from absence of the damping action of a finger, and from the fact that vibrato (see below) is impossible. Other than low G (which can be played in no other way), open strings are usually selected for special effects.

One striking effect that employs open strings is barriolage. Here, the player fingers the same note of an open string (necessarily D, A, or E) on the immediately lower string, then moves the bow with a rapid snake-like motion that causes it to touch the fingered string and the open string alternatingly. The same pitch is thus sounded, but the different timbres of an open string vs. a fingered string produce an audible rhythmic pulsation. Barriolage was a favorite device of Joseph Haydn, who used it for example in his string quartet Opus 50 no. 6, and in the "Farewell" Symphony.

Playing two open strings simultaneously (that is, double stopped; see below) produces a bagpipe-like drone, often used by composers in imitation of folk music.

Double-stopping

Double stopping is playing two strings simultaneously, producing a chord. This is much harder than normal single-string playing as more than one finger has to be accurately placed on two different strings simultaneously. Sometimes moving to a higher position is necessary in order for it to be physically possible for the fingers to be placed in the correct places. Double stopping is also used to mean playing on three or all four strings at once, although such practices are more properly called triple or quadruple stopping. Collectively, double, triple and quadruple stopping is called multiple stopping.

See Double stop for general information about the techniques of double stopping and bowing.

Pizzicato

When a note is marked pizzicato in the written music, it is played by plucking the string with a finger rather than with the bow. For details of how pizzicato notes are played, see the Wikipedia article "Pizzicato".

Vibrato

Vibrato is a very common device used by violinists which causes the pitch of a note to vary up and down quickly. This is achieved by moving the finger pressing on the string slightly forwards and backwards. Vibrato is often perceived to create a more emotional sound, and it is employed heavily in music of the Romantic era. There are several different styles of vibrato ranging from the use of just the fingers, to the use of the wrist or even the whole forearm. These produce different effects and are favoured by different players for different styles of music. Some styles of music use little or no vibrato at all.

It is often thought that vibrato can partially disguise an out of tune note, the intuitive idea being that the ear should not be able track pitch as accurately when it is moving up and down. However, recent experimental work finds no such effect: the human ear detects the mean frequency of a vibrato note just as accurately as it detects a non-undulating pitch. It is not necessarily the case that results obtained under careful experimental conditions will carry over to real-life playing, and there is at least some evidence that vibrato may be able to disguise mistuning at faster tempos. Nevertheless, it now appears that individuals learning to play the violin are well advised never to suppose that using vibrato will help them with their pitch problems.

Harmonics

Pressing the finger very lightly on the string can create harmonics. This means that instead of the normal solid tone a wispy-sounding note of a higher pitch is heard. This is caused by the light finger blocking the string's fundamental; the position of the finger determines the first note of that string's harmonic series which is allowed to sound.

The mute

The tone of the violin can also be altered by attaching a small device called a mute to the bridge of the instrument. This stops the bridge itself from vibrating as much, and causes a more mellow tone, with fewer audible harmonics above the note being played.

Bowing techniques

The violin produces louder notes when the player either moves the bow faster or pushes down harder on the string. The two methods are not equivalent, because they produce different timbres; pressing down on the string tends to produce a harsher, more intense sound.

The location where the bow intersects the string also influences timbre. Playing close to the bridge (sul ponticello) gives a more intense sound than usual, emphasizing the higher harmonics; and playing with the bow over the end of the fingerboard (sul tasto) makes for a delicate, ethereal sound, emphasizing the fundamental frequency.

Occasionally the strings are struck with the back of the bow (col legno). This gives a much more percussive sound, and is most effective when employed by a full orchestral violin section, since it produces little volume.

A second, more modern percussive technique is called the "chop," in which the hair near the bottom of the bow is struck against the strings. It is used by some jazz musicians, including the Turtle Island String Quartet.

See also: How to play the violin

Tuning

Violins are tuned by twisting the pegs in the scroll, around which the strings are wrapped. The A string is tuned first, typically to 440 Hz (see Pitch (music)). The other strings are then tuned to it in intervals of perfect fifths using double-stopping. Some violins also have adjustors (also called fine tuners). These permits the tension of the string to be adjusted by rotating a small knob. Such tuning is generally easier than using the pegs, and adjustors are usually recommended for younger players. Adjustors work best, and are most useful, with higher tension metal strings. It is very common to use one on the E-string even if the others are not equipped with them.

Small tuning adjustments can also be made by stretching a string with the hand.

The tuning G-D-A-E is used for the great majority of all violin music. However, other tunings are occasionally employed (for example, tuning the G string up to A), both in classical music (where the technique is known as scordatura) and in some folk styles.

Maintenance

Violinists carry replacement strings with their instruments to have one available in case a string breaks. All four replacement strings must be included, since they differ in thickness. Even the strings which do not break are usually replaced after about a year of use. The cost of strings varies, and the quality of the strings strongly influences the timbre of the sound produced.

It is said that Niccolo Paganini purposefully weakened some of his strings so that in performance they would snap. He would then play the rest of the piece on the remaining strings, sometimes going into remarkably high positions in order to impress the audience.

In the course of playing the violin, hairs are often lost from the bow, making it necessary to have it rehaired periodically.

The violin itself usually does not require maintenance, but it should be occasionally checked by a technician and is regularly cleaned with a gentle polish.

The violin in classical music

Since the Baroque era the violin has one of the most important of all instruments in classical music, for several reasons. The tone of the violin stands out above other instruments, making it appropriate for playing a melody line. In the hands of a good player, the violin is extremely agile, and can execute rapid and difficult sequences of notes. Indeed, the violin seems to lend itself to virtuosity more than any other instrument (its only plausible rival is the piano), and top violinists have amazed their audiences with their wizardry since the 17th century.

The violin is also considered a very expressive instrument, which is often felt to approximate the human voice. This may be due to the possibility of vibrato and of slight expressive adjustments in pitch and timbre.

Violins make up a large part of an orchestra, and are usually divided into two sections, known as the first and second violins. Composers often assign the melody to the first violins (who are often given more technically difficult music), while second violins usually play harmony. A string quartet similarly has parts for first and second violins, as well as viola and cello.

The violin in folk music

Like many other instruments of classical music, the violin descends from remote ancestors, cruder in form, that were used by ordinary people for the purpose of playing folk music. Following a stage of intensive development in the late Renaissance, largely in Italy, the violin had improved (in volume, tone, and agility), to the point that it not only became a very important instrument in art music, but proved highly appealing to folk musicians as well. As a folk instrument, the violin ultimately spread very widely, sometimes displacing earlier bowed instruments, and ethnomusicologists have observed its use in many locations throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

When played as a folk instrument, the violin is ordinarily referred to in English as a fiddle; see the Wikipedia article Fiddle for more information on the role of the fiddle in folk music.

History

Amati family of Italian violin makers
Guarneri family of Italian violin makers
Stradivarius